Alexander Lewis, a-21-year-old former University of Colorado lineman, was sentenced Friday to 45 days in jail and two years of probation for an altercation that left Lee Bussey, an Air Force cadet, unconscious.
Lewis pleaded guilty to third-degree misdemeanor assault in December.
Boulder District Judge Patrick Butler said that Lewis will begin his jail sentence once he finishes his semester at the University of Nebraska, where he transferred May 2013. As part of the probation, Lewis will have to do 100 hours of community service and undergo anger management and substance abuse evaluation.
"I have no doubt alcohol was a major factor here," Butler said. "This was a classic example of too much alcohol, too much testosterone, bad result. I see it almost daily," Denver Post reports.
Lewis acknowledged he had a problem with alcohol.
Boulder police arrested Lewis and CU quarterback Jordan Webb May 11 following a fight with Bussey, 22, on University Hill.
According to a police report, witnesses said Bussey was pushed into a brick wall and then on the ground after which both Lewis and Webb began punching him.
Webb also pleaded guilty to third-degree assault and accepted a plea deal in September. He was sentenced to two years of probation and 20 days on a work crew.
Although the two men pleaded guilty to the same charge, prosecutor Ken Kupfner said Lewis' conduct justified a harsher sentence.
"Mr. Lewis, a much bigger man, took Mr. Bussey's head in two hands and repeatedly slammed it against a brick wall. Mr. Lewis' conduct was vastly more severe, vastly more serious and the cause of the injuries suffered by Mr. Bussey," Kupfner told the court.
On the other hand, Gary Lozow, Lewis' attorney, asked for only probation for Lewis as he did not have a criminal history and was a good citizen. Lozow said that it was difficult for anyone to determine the turn of events on the street.
"Day in and day out, I thought about what I did," Lewis said. "I'm sorry for Lee. I can only imagine how hard it must have been for Lee and his parents.It scares me to know I had an impact on someone else's life, hard to come to terms with the fact that I had a problem, but I did get help. ... Off the field, I've grown exponentially as a man."
